A machine such as a rotary mixer is employed for reclamation and stabilization process of a ground surface. In some situations, an additive such as formed asphalt tray be added to the ground surface in order to improve the reclamation and stabilization process. Typically, foamed asphalt is formed by mixing heated bitumen with water using a foaming bar. In order to form foamed asphalt as per required specifications, it is required for the bitumen to be heated and maintained within a required temperature range prior to mixing with water.
The bitumen may be heated in a bitumen plant and brought to a worksite in a bitumen tanker. In such a situation, it may be difficult to maintain a temperature of the bitumen within the required temperature range in the bitumen tanker for an extended period of time, such as during travel of the bitumen tanker from the bitumen plant to the worksite, during the reclamation and stabilization process, during process downtime due to unfavorable weather conditions, other delays, and so on.
In some situations, a foamed asphalt system may be provided on the rotary mixer in order to limit cooling of the heated bitumen and maintain the temperature of the bitumen within the required temperature range for the extended period of time. However, such a system may include a number of components that may have to be added onto the rotary mixer, such as a water tank, a water pump, a bitumen tank, a bitumen pump, a heating system, a foaming bar, an electric power pack, and so on.
However, installing the foamed asphalt system may limit a flexibility of the rotary mixer to be employed for other reclamation and stabilization process when an additive other than foamed asphalt may be required. Also, due to a bulk and complexity of the foamed asphalt system it may be laborious and time consuming for a user to assemble and/or disassembly the formed asphalt system with respect to the rotary mixer as may be required. Also, having the foamed asphalt system installed on the rotary mixer may increase machine cost and complexity. Hence, there is a need to an improved rotary mixing system.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,956,076 describes a construction machine having at least one metering device configured to meter at least one binder into a mixing chamber. The machine further includes a control unit operably connected to the at least one metering device and configured to control a quantity of the at least one binder metered into the mixing chamber per unit of time automatically in relation to a quantity of milled material milled up per unit of time. The control unit is also configured to control a quantity of the at least one binder currently metered into the mixing chamber prior to a rotor reaching a specified milling depth as a function of a milled-off quantity of milled material currently present in the mixing chamber.